You may have heard about the Canadian Premier that decided he wanted a more advanced surgery then his home country was willing to let him have.  He decided to pick the best doctor from the best hospital which happened to be (no shock) in the United States.  ”My Heart, My Health, My Choice”  does not sound anti-freedom Canadian Socialist… it sounds almost defiantly independent; even libertarian.   Sadly it is more likely a typical politician that demands the best for himself so that he might rule you.

Much is being made of this on the right and the left.  Does it prove the Canadian system is flawed?  Does it prove the excesses of the rich?  You can read the original Canadian Press article here and the few more points from Hot Air here.

What is continually missing from these health care conversations is the basic understanding that the procedure is available because of the free market US health care system.   Those that do this in Canada were likely trained by US doctors (maybe even this one) or doctors trained by Dr. Lamelas.    Premier Williams wanted the best care possible and went to the US, this hospital and this doctor by choice.

Exerpt from the Mt Sinai Web Site: http://www.miami-cardiology.com/resources.php
Great advances have been made in minimally invasive valve surgery, and Dr. Joseph Lamelas, chief of cardiac surgery at Mount Sinai, is on the leading edge. Board-certified in cardiac and thoracic surgery, as well as surgical critical care, Dr. Lamelas he pioneered an advanced one-man surgical technique for minimally invasive valve procedures. He teaches this method to surgeons across the United States and around the world.

Dr. Lamelas consistently has had one of the lowest morbidities and mortalities in Florida and the United States. He has completed almost 8,000 cardiac surgeries and more than 800 minimally invasive procedures, making him South Florida’s most experienced surgeon in his area of expertise.

What if the US health care system did not exist?   What if it were socialized and no private payment existed?  What would a non-citizen do?  Even worse..forgive me my Atlas Shrugged moment…What if Dr. Lamelas; like so many from his profession; had decided that the bureaucracy, paper work and law suits were just not worth trying to advance the science and he retired early?   Where would we all be had “John Galt” found Dr. Lamelas before he advanced the surgery and trained 100s of others?   That is the true risk in the socialization of the US system: stifling rapid advancement and ground-breaking research.

I am sure the 8000 surgeries Dr Lamelas performs (800 of these advanced forms) make him and his hospital a tidy sum of money… how dare he make money off advancing the entire practice of medicine and saving 1000s of Americans (and a Canadian or two it seems)…Damn him…